A Libra Full Moon

The Moon, photographed by Simon Wedege Petersen in Denmark (April 2009)

When I was writing the post for the Sun’s Aries ingress, I obviously didn’t have a fix on the fact that the Full Moon I was mentioning would be happening in just a week.

And that’s all it is…the Sun entered Aries on March 20th, and the March Full Moon – which is in Libra – is happening on March 27th at 9:28 in the morning, UT/+0 time.

So when I was talking about the various matters which we’d be sorting out or deal with feeling that they’re crouched out there in the worldly woods lurking until we wandered by, it might have sounded like we would be enduring some long, hairy time.

And that would be wrong. So…besides the fact that I was evidently so engrossed in writing about the Sun that the Moon slipped away from me (which happens, let’s face it), for those who have been dealing with oddities and pressures, the good news is that the Full Moon is here. So there’s a good chance that issues – or maybe the information you need to know – will now pop out of plump air like toast out of a toaster.

That doesn’t mean you’ll like it. But it does mean you won’t have to deal with more suspense!

(Hey, we take the good news where we find it, y’know?)

So this Full Moon is happening at 6 Libra, a degree which by virtue of its being early in the sign (in the first ten degrees, to be exact) describes a situation or moment which is personal. Considering this is the Moon we’re talking about, there is some sort of emotionality attached. But that could be motivation. Or it could be surprise. It could even be utter boredom.

That last (the boredom thing) doesn’t seem likely, but it is possible. And why do I say that it wouldn’t seem likely?

That would be because of a dynamic rather glowingly pictured in the following diagram:

Yessiree….this Full Moon is not just the normal good vs. bad, on or off, do/don’t Full Moon sort of thing, this Full Moon is a t-square.

(A brief pause while we all contemplate what this may mean.)

T-squares always represents a challenge. That challenge is ‘imaged’ by whatever is at the “t.” In this case, that would be Pluto at 11 Capricorn, with a sprinkling of Industria right behind (at 10 Capricorn). And since Pluto is about the change, our ability or willingness to change or instigate a change…

…and since Industria is ‘industriousness’ or “the effort required…

…and since the the ‘t’ of a t-square is always an ego issue with us, yessiree – we can bet that there is going to be at least some debate about something in this moment.

Or maybe this is the moment when someone gets over needing to debate? Yes, that could be too.

Lore tells us that the nature of 6 Libra (the Moon’s degree) is about ‘conforming to the group.’ Or, since Libra is an airy, theoretical sign, let’s say the idea held by the group. This degree also seems to be about our ability or willingness to transform – and that such transformations are made slowly, which may be a good thing (and what we want) or which may be a really tedious and frustrating thing (which just may go along with that boredom idea).

Since the Moon (and Sun, obviously) are both in first decan degrees and Pluto and Industria are in second decanate degrees (between 10 and 19 of a given sign) we know that there is a lot of energy of the emotional kind manifesting in whatever the matter of this moment is. Considering this is energy is being manifested through structural Capricorn, this suggests anything from conviction and determination to stubbornness or resistance.

(Yes, resistance and stubbornness can be very Plutonic.)

The “object” in a t-square is to reach the ‘other end’ of the “T,” which in this case is the Venus, Sun, Photographica, Uranus grouping in early Aries. In your everyday Full Moon situation, the opposition of Sun and Moon is a balancing act which asks us to combine the two attributes in a synergy which (as Aristotle put it so well so long ago) has the whole being more than the sum of the parts.

Sounds lofty, doesn’t it? Well, think of it it this way… you can dump a bunch of ingredients in a bowl and they’re just ingredients. But then you can mix them together and stick them in the oven and out comes a cake. If you’re a fan of cake (does anyone not like cake?) that cake is a whole which is more than the simple sum of the parts – all that stuff dumped in the bowl.

So that’s the standard Full Moon. But here we are being graced (if that’s the word for it) with Pluto and Industria sitting at the midpoint between Sun and Moon, creating a celestial thumbtack.

Yes, most of us don’t love t-squares. HOWEVER…! They are one of the most potent astrological figures around. Many of the charts of the greatest and most memorable people in history (my brain always goes to Gandhi, which just shows you who I am!) …their natal charts have t-squares. In such a life, the person has to “get over themselves” as we say. And once they do, because they have learned how to get past their own ego to their potential…they achieve great things.

And yes, that does suggest that great things can be achieved about now. Or you can just sit on a tack.

(Ah, it’s such a generous universe…!)

But at the risk of sounding like an infomercial, this Full Moon is even more than all that. Perhaps you noticed Saturn, Chiron and Mercury noted in that lovely diagram above? All three points are in water signs (Scorpio and Pisces) and they’re in trine to each other. They’re also in a sextile/semi-sextile to Pluto / Industria.

Mercury + Chiron in Pisces is ‘vulnerable thoughts’ or maybe a vulnerability due to something you think or something you’ve said…or even (since Photographica is sitting there beside the Sun and Venus) a vulnerability you may feel with regards to how you are seen or what you think of yourself because you’ve spoken somehow out of turn.

The fact that Saturn is in a semi-sextile to Pluto / Industria says there’s a problem with moving ahead in some sector of your life. About now everybody is going to feel like somebody else doesn’t approve of something about them…and let’s face it, since we’re all human, that’s not all that hard to imagine. I mean, when was the last time when every member of the human race was happy with every other member of the human race?

I’m thinking that’s a metaphysical question and the answer would be as follows: once Adam was created, but before Eve was created.

 Elohim Creating Adam (1765) by William Blake

(Housed in the Tate Gallery, London)

Let’s face it…people always have gripes, and our first line of gripes are with each other!

This Mercury-Chiron + Pluto / Industria + Saturn rather smacks of what we need to do to move forward in spite of difficulties. And the reason why we want to move ahead is the “solution point” to the t-square: the Venus and Sun at 6 Aries, Photographica at 7 Aries and Uranus at 8 Aries. We’re looking (or at least thinking) ahead and we want things to be better (Venus/Sun). We want to transform Photographica / Uranus from possible dark clouds which could wash us out to a ‘vision’ which could change our life for the better by opening the way for new and interesting things.

But no, we’re not crazy about what it would take to deal with something we’re thinking about now…and that may be ‘active thinking’ or that sort of thinking which lingers in the back of your mind like an itchy label on the inside of your shirt collar.

Full Moons can be a big deal. But often times they’re just a ‘passing phase’ in a greater (solar) life process which at this point is leading us towards major shifts we already know we’re going to make…or which we know need making…or which we don’t suspect are out there but which are indeed out there and likely to fall in our lap – or on our head.

Seriously…Pluto is now sitting at the degree it will be in when it goes retrograde next month (on April 12th). So there is a lot of metaphysical portent in the air. If you’re sensitive to such things, you’ll feel it as a stirring of the senses, a quickening of a subtle pulse which seems like life gathering its forces prior to unleashing an elemental shift in time’s game.

Pluto will go retrograde on April 12th (UT/+0). Not two weeks later we will have the first of two lunar eclipses. This first lunar eclipse will be at 5 Scorpio – which is conjunct the Saturn of this Full Moon figure, trine Mercury and inconjunct Venus / Sun in Aries. For those who are already tackling their growth curves, whatever else this lunar eclipse is (which we will discuss at that time, of course) it is an adjustment to what you think to be true right now. So whether you’re a changer or a tack sitter, a transformer or a resister, you may know Jack, but you don’t know the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you solar system.

Not yet, anyway. You will soon though.

After that first lunar eclipse we’ll get a Solar Eclipse at 19 Taurus on May 10 (UT/+0). Solar eclipses seem to be very picky about who they affect how strongly, but no matter who we are and whether our charts get a direct solar eclipse ‘thwack,’ this is either a challenge to our values or our willingness to make something we can value out of our life.

Then comes the exclamation point: a second lunar eclipse, this one positioned at 4 Sagittarius on May 25th. Since this lunar eclipse trines the Sun/Venus (Photographica and Uranus) of this Full Moon, if you’re on the right track now (or get on the right track) you’ll get a confirmation at that point.

Of course, like the other eclipses this will have a whole other meaning unto itself. But in terms of where we stand now…? There is a nice dotted line for anyone willing to, or already tackling the task.

We are already within the 6-8 week ‘lead in’ to the 19 Taurus Solar Eclipse. So whatever goes on now, think it through. Think thoroughly. There are evidently serious matters afoot now in many a life, and I’m not just whistling Dixie.

My best astrological counsel on a general basis is to tackle that difficult thing which needs doing because it’s the right thing to do. It may not be fun. It may not be easy. But if it’s right, it’s right – and we’re not talking about what will please someone, we’re talking about what you know is right in this life, in this world, when you stand naked before the universe.
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Venus in Aries

Afrodite (Aphrodite) 

by Nils Bergslien (1853-1928, Norway)

When I first learned about Venus being astrologically ‘weak’ and often unproductive in Aries, my first reaction was disappointment. It sounded sort of sad to me.

Then I came to better understand the idea of the astrological Venus, which in many ways very, very different from what we think of Venus – or Aphrodite – as the goddess of beauty and allure, she who is adored, ogled and admired by all.

Actually, if you read a lot of mythology, in time you learn that the standing there (or lying there) being gloriously beautiful is just one part of the Venus myth. Venus is not only pretty feisty, but she sets up a lot of challenges for those of us who are mere mortals...which leads to realizing that all of Greek (and Roman) myth is an exercise is describing how and why humans operate as they do.

And once you get there, it all begins to make better astrological sense.

Venus represents our ability to attract, and thus to bring about a new circumstance. Venus is not about luxury per se, Venus is about whatever we do so that we have that moment of luxuriating.

Once I got that far, it slowly dawned on me why Venus is the astrological ruler of Taurus, sign of our personal resources and the self worth and self respect which causes us to put those things to good use. I came to understanding why Venus as ruler of Libra represents not the appearance or the performance which garners all that love, but the (Taurean) resources devoted to that appearance and performance, and that the Libra Venus really only lasts when its not a veneer, but the expression of our truest Taurean being. When it’s not, the Libra-Venus concept becomes beauty is only skin deep.

Aha, I said.

The hardest thing for me to understand was probably why Venus is exalted in Pisces, which seems odd for someone who has Venus natally in Pisces, but that’s one of those karmic ironies: sometimes the ‘what we are’ is the thing we learn last.

Anyway…it finally occurred to me that Venus is exalted in Pisces because Pisces is that deep ocean of emotionality which all humanity originates in, and in the end, lives in. Human beings are always emotional critters…it’s really only to the extent that we understand and can work with and grow into accepting our emotions that we can harness our intellect or life with any sense of ‘sinking in.’ Without that, we skate by. We make do. We rush through the moment, staying busy so we don’t sink in and become immersed in how we really feel about life.

Being willing to feel…being willing to understand that every human being and every creature which has ever existed arises from this same deep well of sentience is the Pisces challenge – and why so many of us have such a hard time with that universal sense of Piscean compassion.

After all, we cannot teach that we do not know. And when that’s applied to Venus, in the universally  emotional sign of Pisces that means we will not receive the compassion we know not how to give.

Compassion, love, care…it’s all part of that equation.

And it was once that I reached that point that I understood why Venus is awkward in Aries. Venus is a connective precept, and in Aries there is only the I-me-my of life.

All planets are weak (or awkward) in the sign (or in this case, signs) which are opposite those which they rule or are exalted in. In this case, Aries is in opposition to Libra, where Venus is the idea which connects – as opposed to Venus in Pisces, which is the feeling which connects…and Venus in Taurus, which is the ability TO connect.

But since every placement – no matter how testing it is – has a positive sign, then the question became how is Venus in Aries a positive?

Aries being the ‘first person personal’ sign, my best answer comes from Aries as a fiery sign which can create the image which motivates us to do something. In Aries, Venus asks us to motivate ourselves. The tough part is there is no cheering section. And during the next three (plus) weeks of Venus in Aries, we can’t expect much in the way of applause.

For some this will feel isolating. Some will enjoy the feeling of independence or the opportunity to experience a little peace and quiet. But for most of us, Venus in Aries - whatever else it is, always includes some sense of feeling like you're on your own. That can be because there isn't anyone around, because no one is available (or able) to help you...or because you've decided to take an independent position or course of action.

And sometimes that's what you need to do. Sometimes it's pure folly - true! But sometimes we drown by surrendering ourselves to the expectations of others. Or some tradition or habit which has outlived its appropriateness, or which doesn't fit your current situation.

Solitude by Frederick Leighton

(c. 1890, oil on canvas, Maryhill Museum of Art, Washington)

 
Venus enters Aries on March 22nd at 3:16 in the morning UT/+0 time. It will be in Aries until April 15th (which those in the USA will recognize as Income Tax due-day.) For this to be happening while Pluto is hunkered down in 11 Capricorn (the degree it will go retrograde at during April) is a metaphysical image of a challenge we each will feel in our own Venus-in-Aries sort of way. Since Venus will square Pluto at the end of this month (the 30th or 31st, depending what time zone you’re in) and that by then Venus will be running in tandem with the Sun is an indication of focus.

Which for some will be an ‘over-focusing on self’ in all it’s myopic non-glory, yes.

But there are some up sides here. During these days (which, given orbs on transit we can broaden to March 28th through April 2nd, give or take)…during these days the Sun-Venus will be conjunct Uranus. That means things aren't entirely in our control. Leaving ourselves open to new ideas is far (far!) better than trying to hold on here, as Uranus respresents those life forces and moments which change our outlook.

Even our life.

Sun-Venus will also be sextile to Jupiter in Gemini. This represents a moment of recognition, though with Jupiter being in Gemini (not Jupiter’s best sign) and Venus’ position in Aries we may be finding out things we would rather not hear, but need to know and think through.

Since at this point Venus and the Sun will also be in an inconjunct to Saturn in Scorpio retrograde, there is a sense of ‘regrouping’ here. Saturn’s opposing Venus’ most primal sign of rulership (Taurus) while Venus is in a sign of detriment (that’s the astrological term for ‘in opposition to sign of rulership’) is a sign that what we’ve been doing with our life…which probably amounts to priorities and how we’ve been going about doing what we’ve been doing…is going through a general period of personal scrutiny.

And when we won’t do that scrutiny, life will (of course!) prompt us to scrutinize those things either through things which happen to us or relationships with, or reactions from others.

Need I add that May is going to bring a Taurus Solar Eclipse as well?

We’re hearing this whole ‘the cost of life’ and discussions of values and what’s valuable all around us. The Venus lesson tells us that ultimately, we do have to care about what we do to or about others, but that our ability to do so is vitally about us.

And therein lies the rub – particularly the Venus-in-Aries rub. Nobody likes being wrong. Nobody likes not being able to do what they want to do. Nobody likes having to deal with the idea that they can’t have what they want now (deferred gratification) or that they’ve made a bad bet, be that financial or (even ouchier) with your life.

Alas, the handwriting is on the solar systemic wall (wherever that is). Because we have talked about this Venus-Sun conjunction occurring in aspect to Jupiter and Saturn we know (astrologically, at least) that this is about what we are building (or have built) in our life. Jupiter and Saturn are the ‘generational’ planets. Personally and individuality they are about what we do in this world and the world as we experience it or are supported-or-hindered by that world.

That Venus catches up to Mars about the time the whole Sun-Venus-Jupiter-Saturn thing shapes up speaks to our desire to make things work. And for some, this is a sign of (Venus in Aries) disappointments which can (Mars in Aries) really strike to the core.

Then again, this may be just what you need to get off the stick (or sticking point) and do something about your life. In fact, since even once the Sun-Jupiter-Saturn thing lets go Venus and Mars will still be running in tandem, this is a great time to get things done.

It’s also a time which may spark some rather feisty (read: serious) personal conflicts. Though Venus-Mars is known as passion, there’s nothing which says this has to be the passion of love.

Diesen Kuss der Ganzen Welt (Gustav Klimt, 1902)

Trust me, nothing says that – especially here. So while this can be a time for passionate love, there's a decent chance that expressions of love will now be...well, let's say just a touch self-serving. Not that such things don't have their place. It may be a moment when it’s ‘their turn’ to get the family (or relationship) focus. Or when someone needs your help or you need to make some sort of sacrifice. Or even when in your own life you need to shift 'passionate priorities' or not give so much attention to something which is your passion because something else needs your attention.

Just understand: this is likely to be a testy time for bargains, whether with yourself or others. So don’t blame “them,” make peace with yourself. Don't go all bonkers because you need to stop doing what you want to be doing in order to take care of something which in its own right is a real and valid problem. Knowing why you do what you do (preferably before you do it) is essential during these days. This can also be as much a time time for flagrant displays of disrespect as adoration.

Mars and Venus will continue running in tandem for the duration of Venus’ passage through Aries – which by the by, includes the Pluto station, which should be a very intense period which for some will be very trying in an internal sort of way nobody likes to deal with.

Life is asking that we change modes. May ills personal and societal are coming out now and we’re bound to see the worst in some. Efforts to blame others will abound. But in the end, if we can’t play nice with others, if we can’t keep things balanced enough that we recognize that to have a good life we have to care about building and maintaining a healthy world and society…those flaws are ours and they will be driven home.

The universe is not cruel – it’s just not partial. We don’t like that, perhaps. But it is not just a truth, it’s the very sort of truth Venus in Aries is meant to bring into focus so that the whole of our life has more balance...which in whether we know it or not, makes everything we are, everything we do more worthwhile.

You know, more beautiful.

And that's the Venus positive.
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